It is beneficial to be able to fold the rotor blade of an autogyro device for storage and transport purposes. Some of the existing folding rotor blades may be folded at the hub to which they are connected, thus reducing the rotor blade diameter by only one-half, but not more. These folding rotor blades are often highly complex and may add considerable weight to the autogyro device. Other folding rotor blades may utilize telescopic rotor blades. However these rotor blades may require that the telescopic segments fit within one another. This type of design may not tolerate the aerodynamic bending forces generated in a rotor. Moreover, this type of design may require a complex internal mechanism, and may make it difficult to maintain rotor balance during deployment and stowage of the rotor blade which may require the rotor to be stopped. As a result, centrifugal force to power the deployment of the rotor blade may not be used. Other designs may utilize complex rotor blades which may require manual removal of bolts, may require manual folding of the rotor blade, may add significant drag to the rotor blade, and/or may reduce performance. Other types of folding rotor blades may experience varying types of problems.
A folding rotor blade, and a method of deployment thereof, is needed to decrease one or more problems associated with one or more of the existing folding rotor blades and/or methods of deployment thereof.